Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HARE SCRAMBLE " R n 4:Th eN H t OU d ew 00 NETRA Hare Scrambles Series right o n hi s wheel. McLevy w as i n third, down only 15 seconds. Madore wa s still holding onto fourth, another 35 seconds back. Pop lie Hon da-spo nsored Wes Cla rk e had m oved up into fifth plac e with the rest of the AA competitors right on his heels. As the ride rs started their second lap, th ey were already starting to run in to lappers, a n d the t racke d co ndi tio ns were getti ng tougher. "The track looked like someo ne drove aro und it in a tank," said Norto n just before heading out into th e second lap. Most of the mu d holes ha d grown to about 200 yar ds long with lines in eve ry direc tio n. Th er e were bi kes s tuck everywhe re . Norton and' McLevy chose to stay wit h their original lines ge tting around everyth ing; they never got stuck or fell in the mud pits. Levesque, tho ugh, wasn't as fortunate. He wen t down and lost sigh t of the two fr ont -runner s. At the end of th e la p, . Levesqu e was still in third place, but he wa s n ow d own so me 60 seco n ds . Mad ore, who had taken most of the last year off from racing, wa s hanging onto fourth , but Peculis wa s clo sin g in . Peculis had closed the gap to onl y 15 seconds by the end of the lap , on ly to By Cheri A llx Photos by Jay Chittendon UXBRIDGE, MA, MAY19 a m ah a -m ou n ted Tom N orton moved into the lead on the first lap and held on to take the overa ll victory at the NETRA N ew Hoot Hare Scrambles in Massachusetts. Norton 's win wasn't as easy as it sounds, as Jo sh Mclevy, P.J. Peculis and Todd Levesque gave him a run for his money to the finish. With all the land-closure probl ems in Massachusetts, it's nice to have people open their land to riding. The New Hoot Hare Scrambles was held on a private farm in Uxbridge. The club laid ou t a six-m ile course throughout some New England's best riding terr ain . The course consisted of several s tream crossings and an u nfor giving ro ck garden that was about a quarter-mile long. There was no dirt in this section, just plenty of rocks. There were also do zens of bottom less mud ho les, cornfields and some fifth-gear cart roads. The weather conditions were also very favorab le. After one of the longest wi nters in history, the weather finally broke. By th e start of th e race, it was almost 90 degrees, sunny and humid. A crowd of 320 riders were on hand for what would be one of the best races in a long time. Fourteen AA riders lined up for the start of the Expert/ Amateur event. After the typ ical ha lf-hour de lay the flag went up. Jerry Madore got the holeshot with Manchester Hon d a / Pirelli / AXO-sponsored McLevy right behind. As the riders started to funnel into the first tum, which ran between two s tone walls, McLevy slid out taking with him most of the front line. Chris Chrispin also stall ed out causing a huge bottleneck. Madore /Dirt Works-baked Pecul is and Pub Racing's Levesqu e man aged to avoid the pileup and took the lead, but not far behind was SCR/Yamaha / Link/Scott/ Answer-sponsored Norton and Mclevy. The two riders - Norton and McLevy - picked their way around the pack and, by the four-mile marker, Norton had taken over the lead with Levesque and McLevy right behind him. The three 'riders were on the gas and p ulling away fro m th e pack. At the end of the lap, Norton was out in front with Levesque Y 4. (Above ) Jerry Madore (14) leads the start of the AA wave ; he went on to finish fourth . (Right) This rider fell victim to one of the course 's many large mud holes . (Below) Tom Norton was more fortunate and won the NETRA New Hoot Hare Scrambles In Massachusetts. lose what he had worked for in a mud hole. When the riders came around to pit at the end of the third lap, Madore had increased hi s fourth-place advantage to 50 seconds. At th is point, Fran Halligan was closing in on Peculis for fifth, and even tu ally passed him when Peculis stopped to pit. Peculis was soon able to return the favor by passing Halligan w hen he pitted, moving back into the number-five position. Out in front Norton was still leading with McLevy in hot pursuit. Both riders came in to pit with Norton getting out first. McLevy wasn't going to let off and soon the two riders w ere railing back around th e co rn fie ld a nd in to th e woods. They had managed to put four minutes on third-place Levesque by the end of the third lap. Before the end of the fourth lap , McLevy started ha ving problems with his chain. While going through a mud ho le his chain derailed. H e was ab le to r oll it back on th e sprockets, but this allowed Norton to pull awa y to a 25-second lead. McLevy's chain continued to plague him going into the final lap . He lost the chain, once again, going through a gas-tank-deep mud hole, causi ng him to lose another 20 seconds, "I lost my chain three or

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